Dave Dieter / The Huntsville TimesDr. Michael Griffin speaking to students at the University of Alabama in Huntsville

HUNTSVILLE, AL - Former NASA Administrator Michael Griffin says the U.S. House of Representatives should reject a compromise on NASA's future expected to come up for a vote Wednesday.

"After considerable reflection," Griffin told The Huntsville Times Tuesday, "I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that NASA and the nation's space program would be best served if the House were to vote against the Senate authorization bill in its present form."

Griffin, now an eminent scholar at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, referred to a NASA authorization bill reportedly coming before the House for its possible approval.

U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tennessee, who chairs a committee with NASA oversight responsibilities, said Monday he would support the Senate bill and try to make changes in the appropriations process. A flawed authorization bill is better than no bill, Gordon said.

Griffin disagreed.

"I have the greatest personal and professional respect for Chairman Gordon," Griffin said, "and I understand his decision to consider a poor authorization bill rather than to have none at all.

"However, as Mr. Gordon himself has noted, the Senate bill has grievous flaws," Griffin said, "for which the best hope is now that they can be fixed during the appropriations process. But this is an uncertain path, and while it is true that the Senate bill offers some improvement over the Obama administration's ill-advised plan for NASA, in my considered opinion it is not enough better to warrant its support in law."